The patient movement is widespread across the Italian peninsula, and largely community based. Our currently-running survey confirms that the primary functions of Italian patient groups are to:

provide information to patients
offer peer support, and
represent patients' interests at both a political level, and with health professionals.

Thus, information, knowledge, and communication all lie at the heart of Italian patient-group activities. And it is these latter activities that Italian patient groups emphasise when discussing how pharma companies can improve their corporate reputation.

What Italian patient groups said about pharma's corporate reputation and activities

Over half of Italian patient groups believed pharma to be "Excellent" or "Good" in 2017 at innovation (51%), and at providing high-quality products (57%).

Italian patient groups do, however, take a more negative viewpoint than patient groups worldwide of some of the pharmaceutical industry's other key activities, notably the provision of patient information, and transparency in disclosing the details of the funding of healthcare stakeholders - which, in turn, negatively impacts on Italian patient groups' perceptions of the pharma industry's integrity. In addition, Italian patient groups are more negative than patient groups worldwide about pharma's ability to provide services beyond the pill.

A call for further engagement with pharma

Although Italian patient groups commented on almost every aspect of pharma activity (to some degree), the dominant theme they expressed was frustration with pharma's less-than-effective communicational record. Italian patient groups called for better interaction with pharma. The comment from the Associazione per la Lotta alla Trombosi e alle malattie cardiovascolari Onlus (ALT) was a case in point.

The Italian patient groups produced an extensive list as to how they think pharma companies should improve their communication efforts with patient groups and patients

Italian patient groups also argued that listening should be part of the communication process, with pharmaceutical companies needing to spend more time listening to patients' perspectivesparticularly on issues related to research and development (as well as on the performance of treatment, once it is prescribed). A few Italian patient groups felt that patient/patient-group input into pharmaceutical-company R&D was a prerequisite if a company wanted to gain itself a good corporate reputation.

So, how did the companies perform at corporate reputation in 2017, in the viewpoints of Italian patient groups?

Ranking at corporate reputation is measured by patient groups familiar with a company. The rankings of the top companies in 2017 were largely similar to those of 2016.

AbbVie was ranked 1st overall out of 17 companies in 2017. AbbVie was also ranked 1st in 2017 for six of the 12 individual indicators of corporate reputation.
Roche was ranked overall 2nd. Roche was ranked 1st for one of the 12 individual indicators of corporate reputation.
Eli Lilly was ranked overall 3rd. Lilly was ranked 1st for four of the 12 individual indicators of corporate reputation.

The company which was given the biggest improvement in ranking 2016-2017 by Italian patient groups familiar with it was Janssen, which rose from 16th out of 16 companies in 2016, to 9th out of 17 companies in 2017. Janssen was also ranked 1st in 2017 for one of the 12 individual indicators of corporate reputation.